Chip's Family Restaurant Officially Opens In Wethersfield

Pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner? It's possible at Chip's on the Silas Deane Highway in Wethersfield, which serves more than 40 types of pancakes day and night, as well as waffles, omelets, sandwiches, wraps and more. Read the story here.

(Sara Grant)

CHRISTOPHER HOFFMANSpecial to The Courant

Find out where to get some of Connecticut's best known pancakes

WETHERSFIELD -- In 1989, Chip's Family Restaurant owner George Chatzopoulos arrived in the United States from Greece.

By his own admission, the 22-year-old had been doing not much back in his native land.

"I was hanging out at the beach," he said of his life back then.

Chatzopoulos' slacker days ended almost immediately after stepping onto American soil. The day after his arrival, his father, who had already settled in the United States, got him a job washing dishes at the restaurant where he worked.

From those humble beginnings, Chatzopoulos rose to line cook, then chef and finally restaurant owner. On Thursday, the one-time beach bum cut the ribbon to the fourth restaurant of his growing Chip's chain.

"Success is not easy," said the jovial Chatzopoulos, today 47. "You've got to put in a lot of effort and hard work. You need a little bit of luck too."

A who's who of local politics and government, including Mayor Paul Montinieri, Councilman Michael Rell and state Sen. Paul Doyle, turned out Thursday for the official opening of the restaurant in the Goff Brooks Shops on the Silas Deane Highway.

Montinieri said he was especially pleased that Chatzopoulos constructed a new building, adding to the town's commercial property stock.

"It's a great addition," Montinieri said. "They're such nice people. It's just a great family."

Also attending the ribbon cutting was state Attorney General George Jepsen. Jepsen said he had met and become friendly with Chatzopoulos and his family at their other Chip's restaurants in Fairfield and New Haven counties.

"In my current job, I get to know a lot of great people," said Jepsen, fresh off winning a second term last week. "This is a great success story."

Chatzopoulos is not the founder of Chip's. The restaurant, which specializes in pancakes, opened in Orange in 1966. Chatzopoulos discovered the place when he was managing a diner in nearby Milford.

" I went to eat pancakes," he said.

When the family that owned Chip's decided in 2003 to sell, Chatzopoulos leapt at the chance to buy it. He has since expanded to Fairfield, Trumbull and now Wethersfield.

Are more Chip's restaurants on the way?

"Absolutely," Chatzopoulos replied. A Southbury outlet is set to open early next year, he said.

Chatzopoulos said he opened in Wethersfield because the site sits on the busy Silas Deane Highway and near Interstate-91 exits.

While the official opening was Thursday, Chip's in Wethersfield has been open about a month. Business has been excellent so far, Chatzopoulos said.

"It's been going very well," he said. "A lot of good responses from people."

Montinieri said that Chatzopoulos' success shows that family businesses can still compete with national chains.